Students ‘dare to move’ with The Living Person

On Friday, Feb. 15, nearly 200 John Carroll students filled the Lombardo Student Center Atrium for The Living Person’s “Dare You To Move” event.

From 9 p.m. until midnight, JCU students had the opportunity to take part in a night of music and inspiration, as local musicians, JCU students and professional athletes came to share their faith experiences and what drives them to be a “living person.”

The Living Person is an organization and movement of people striving to become better than they are now, seeking a holistic well-being centered on faith in God. Over the past several months, dozens of students joined the Living Person Challenge, through which they commit to either an intellectual, physical or spiritual goal and strive to accomplish that goal with the encouragement of others in the movement.

Resident ministers Jurell Sison and Craig Sidol took the reins of The Living Person this year and hoped the event Friday night would let people know about the movement and how they could be involved.

The evening included musical performances from the popular student band Four Guys Who Love Sax, alumni Chelsea Gilbert and up-and-coming singer/song writer Sam Brenner. Between the musical performances, several students who committed to the Living Person Challenge also spoke about how they pursued those goals. One of the most exciting parts of the evening came when Cleveland Browns offensive lineman John Greco spoke to the crowd about his faith and how it relates to his football career.

During all of the games, speeches and live music, those in attendance had the opportunity to begin their own personal challenge and join the movement. Over 100 students committed to different intellectual, physical and spiritual goals throughout the night. As people lined up to make challenges and shared in conversation about their new goals there was a visible sense of community and inspiration in the atmosphere.

Junior Rachael Greuber committed to running a half marathon with The Living Person and is very excited about the opportunity to set goals with the support of so many others at the event. She said, “It was a really inspiring event to hear everybody’s stories and to see how many people came to make a goal for themselves.”

Sison described the goal of the movement down to Christian essentials. “It is finding your passion, doing it to the best of your abilities and then offering it back up to God. That is what God is calling us to do,” he said. “To do what we love, to share it with others and offer it back to Him.”